Accenture Buys Reactive Media; WPP's Possible Buys Swift

Accenture will buy Australian agency Reactive Media as it continues to bone up on digital marketing. “Brands are recognizing that being relevant to customers has never depended more on how they engage with customers digitally,” said Brian Whipple, senior managing director for Accenture Interactive. The deal calls to mind Deloitte’s 2013 acquisition of Seattle agency Banyan Branch. Agencies and consultants, unite! Press release.

Buying ‘Real-Time Content’

In another agency M&A move, WPP’s digital agency Possible snapped up Portland, Ore.-based Swift for an undisclosed sum. “Real-time content is what clients are asking for and what we predict is going to be an even bigger deal in years to come,” Possible CEO Shane Atchison told The Wall Street Journal. “When you look at a digital agency’s relationship with a brand or client, content and social are the battleground.” The buy follows Possible’s August acquisition of app specialist Double Encore. Pair with this AdExchanger story on how Possible and sister agency Mindshare mix media and creative.

Native Automotive

Hearst’s Jumpstart Automotive Group will license Nativo’s native ad delivery tech. Beginning in January, Jumpstart with adopt Nativo’s platform to serve native spots across its owned and operated sites, like Car & Driver, CarSoup.com and US New and World Report Automotive, which together reach over 25 million users. Nativo’s platform is compatible with programmatic systems, and Nativo SVP for Strategy and Operations Chris Rooke believes “more ad networks and ad providers that have worked with publishers on monetization will begin thinking about using this kind of technology to automate, streamline and scale their native ad products.” MediaPost has more.

Stolen By Streaming

Nielsen suggests TV viewership is waning as more eyeballs migrate to streaming services. It reported traditional TV viewership dipped 4% last quarter, while online video streaming spiked 60%. But Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos doesn’t see it that way. “We have seen Netflix viewing seed ratings improvements for shows from ‘Breaking Bad’ to ‘Curious George,’” Sarandos said. “Given the new license-fee revenue from Netflix and other [subscription video-on-demand] players, and the relatively stable upfront ad dollars, share may be shifting but the pie appears to have grown.” Read on via The WSJ.